The Earthquake that Rocked the Pass Area

By Douglas V. Gibbs

Normally, I am the one rocking KMET's studios, but in the mid-morning hours of January 6, 2916, a 4.5 earthquake rattled Banning and Beaumont.

The quake was reported at 6:42 a.m. two miles north of Banning.  The San Gorgonio Pass is about 85 miles east of Los Angeles in northwest Riverside County.  The earthquake rattled along the San Andreas fault zone.  It was initially reported with a magnitude of 4.8, but later downgraded to magnitude 4.5.

Landslides that followed the quake may or may not have been because of the rattling.  Southern California is in the middle of a week-long storm, and mudslides from saturated hillsides are expected.

A 4.3 magnitude quake hit Devore near the Cajon Pass last week, about 40 miles to the west of The Pass Area.

Residents in southwest Riverside County, in the towns of Temecula, Menifee, Murrieta and Wildomar all claimed to have felt the quake. . . except me.  I slept through it.

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